Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Personal Matters (or, Cancer Really Stinks!)

Hi there. Due to the kindness of a good friend of mine, Steven Goldman, I'm guessing that some of you might be new here, so welcome! As a brief introduction, my name is Rich Faber, and I've been working as an Illustrator since 1993. I'm probably best known for my work as a comic book artist, having worked on such titles as (in no particular order) Green Lantern, Buzzboy, Titans, Steel, Adventures of Superman, X-Men, and many others. I also do the majority of my freelance work these days illustrating projects for a variety of clients, including the WWE, NASCAR, USA Networks, Scholastic, and New Line Cinema, among others. Normally, I showcase my work here, but today, I'm going to do something a little different; something a bit more personal.

Those of you who have visited here before might be aware that my wife has been ill. I've mentioned it here in previous posts, somewhat vaguely, because I'm not great at talking about my private life; especially in a place like this, where I've specifically established it to promote my work. However, now seems like a good time to break from that mentality a bit.

Back in August, my wife Traci was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma. Yeah, it's a tough one, and while the diagnosis stinks, we're not the sort of people who give up, despite what statistics say. We hate statistics (well, except in baseball, where they're pretty useful!), and anyone who knows both of us will tell you that we're both really stubborn. I mean REALLY stubborn! Challenging diagnosis? Yeah, well, we'll see about that!

Traci's attitude is tremendously positive about all of this, and I'm trying to use my sense of humor to keep her amused... you know, when I'm not annoying her with all of the little insanities my life tends to bring. So we're not exactly laughing about all of this (well, maybe sometimes), but we're also not doing the "woe is me" dance either. We have a huge network of support, both family and friends, and that helps us get through each day too. Traci's been doing chemotherapy since September, and so far, she's tolerating the treatments very well. We're hopeful that we'll get some good news about the most recent scans.

So, mostly, we're good, in light of everything, but lately things have gotten a little hairy, financially. While we have health insurance, it's not covering everything. Medical bills and co-pays can truly be a drag. It's been tough for us to maintain our regular work schedules between treatments (and Traci's ensuing fatigue), doctor visits, and caring for our two year old son. So, as a result, our bank account is beginning to say, "Um, hey? Guys? What the HECK is going on!?" So we're looking for ways to generate more income, in order to keep afloat.

We're not in the habit of asking for money (or anything, for that matter), so I came up with a game plan (another baseball analogy. I'm sensing a theme) to ask for your help, and you'll get something cool in return. Everyone wins!

Here's what I have in mind: I have a backlog of 15 years worth of comic book art that I'd like to make available to finance some of the expenses. In addition, while I do have work on my desk, I'm looking to take on a little extra commission work (illustration, comics, etc.), and even more ideally, new illustration projects for clients. Ongoing work would be especially cool, but I hear we might have a little problem with our economy right now, so I'll understand if that's not feasible at the moment.

I can make it easy for anyone to make payments for either art or work, through my Paypal account. All you need to do is email me at rich(underscore)faber(at)comcast(dot)net (sorry about the format. Just trying to avoid "spambots," and I know you're all smart folks who will figure out my email address), and we can get the ball rolling. If you're interested in buying art, I can give you a general idea of what I have, and we can take it from there. I also have t-shirts available, which you can check out in this post. They're $20.00 each ($22.00 for XXL), which includes shipping. Orders to the USA only, please.

Oh yeah, I also came up with one last option too, just to make it even more accessible: for anyone who's not interested in buying or commissioning art, I'll also send out a signed comic book for any amount you'd like to contribute. I have a lot of my comic book work from over the years, and I can probably even do requests for specific signed copies, if I have them available. If you're interested in that deal, please use the above email address to Paypal any amount of your choice. I'll do this as long as I still have comic books with my work available.

The last piece of business I need to address is that my friend Steve, mentioned above, is also a survivor of malignant melanoma, and is an incredible inspiration to us. His kindness has included emotional support, and in an act of great charity, he's chosen to write about Traci and me in his latest edition of the Pinstriped Bible, a column he writes for the New York Yankees on their Yes Network's website. Here's a link to that column: Pinstriped Bible. Whether you're a Yankees fan or not, Steve's column is always entertaining, and a great read. He's a comics fan, a history buff, and always has an eclectic mix of humor, facts, stats where appropriate, and insight. It's never boring! Please take a few minutes to check it out, and give some traffic back to this good pal of mine.

Wow, that was a long post! If you're still here, I applaud your ability to stay awake. Thanks for bearing with me through it though. I hope you won't take my lame attempts at humor as meaning I don't take things seriously. It's just that in order to get through such a rough time, this is my way of coping. Also, if this post was too serious, it would have been waaaaay more boring than it already is! I know, because my first draft was exactly that, and even I had trouble getting through it! Anyway, as I said, yeah, the situation kinda sucks, but we're making the best of it. We're trying to laugh as much as we can, and stay positive. In any event, our goofy two year old boy won't allow us to get too down; he's just too funny! We know Traci is in extremely capable hands with the crack medical team working her case. We have every ounce of support we can get from family and friends, and are extremely blessed to have such an astounding show of good will and love from them. So, in short (not really), we have every reason to believe we'll get through this family crisis relatively intact.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this personal post. I promise to get back to art posting again soon, but for now, you have my sincere thanks for taking this all in, and hopefully, throwing some more good thoughts our way!

About Me

An award-winning Illustrator with 20 years of experience working in comics, animation, publishing, advertising, and design. This blog features drawings, sketches, thoughts, events, and announcements. Enjoy!